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Here is this week's best-of-the-best child and parenting articles found on the internet, selected by happychild contributor, Michelle Higgins. This week, topics include motherhood, education, literacy, and talking to children about sex education. Read full article

Ever turned to attend to your child in the backseat as you’ve been driving? Or done a quick check on them in the rear view mirror? According to a new study out of Monash University Accident Research Centre, you are in the majority of parent drivers, and your children are 12 times more distracting to you than talking on a mobile phone while driving. Read full article

From news.com.au this week came the headline ‘Noisy kids? You should pay extra on planes’ – an opinion piece by Claudia Connell. She rejects one airline’s new offer that she can pay extra to travel in a quiet zone free from under-12s. Instead, she suggests that families with noisy children should pay the higher penalty, not the people like her "just wanting a quiet journey". Claudia writes that she is “not a person who hates kids,” has “nieces, nephews and godchildren that I adore”, and has “made peace” with the fact that she won’t have her own children. She’s just not fond of crying kids on planes. She’s “sympathetic” of a mother struggling with a bawling baby, but refuses to “accept that it’s now my lot to have my quality of life diminished by having other people’s families forced on me.” Her ticket price should not include “13 hours of hell”, she asserts. Read full article

A new study of adoptive families recognises that regardless of whether parents are same-sex or heterosexual couples, greater levels of support for one another and satisfaction with the sharing of parenting tasks are what generate good behavioural outcomes for children. This is an interesting insight for people working with adoptive families and adds to the ongoing conversation about parenting models and what works for children. Read full article

Dr Wendy Mogel asked this question when presenting at the Young Minds Conference in Sydney this week. Dr Mogel is an acclaimed clinical psychologist, parenting expert and author of The New York Times best-selling parenting book, The Blessing of a B-Minus. Her presentation explored the ‘new normal’ for today’s parents and she made some practical suggestions for raising self-reliant children and teenagers. Read full article

Life is often an endurance test. Sure, there are bright moments when joy fills your heart, when you can re-charge. But often it is a relentless quest. At present, my patience as a mother is tested daily by an irrepressible toddler who is now more wilful and dastardly than I thought possible. I need to rapidly acquire new skills. Read full article

Whether it be managing the unexpected behaviours of teenagers, a chronic disability, an acute illness, or mental health issues, Benison O'Reilly explores why teenagers get into trouble even with supportive parenting. Read full article

Is your inner critic getting you down? You know: that little voice in the back of your head constantly telling you what a lousy parent you are. Every parent has one. It’s a stream of thoughts making up an endless real-time commentary on what you are thinking and doing, continuously pointing out and cataloging you deficiencies and weaknesses...So what do you do if your inner critic is getting out of hand? Read full article

This morning’s news reported a six week old baby allegedly having been abandoned by his parents on the side of the road at about 3am in a western Sydney suburb. It’s simply heartbreaking to think of such a young child being mistreated in this way. And my natural first reaction was anger at the adults involved in that child’s care. Two writers on mainstream online media websites this morning called the situation as they saw it ... I think as bloggers, journalists and publishers we can do better in these rare but extremely disturbing situations where a baby is abandoned. Read full article

In spite of the challenges, many siblings say that having a brother or sister with a disability or chronic illness enriched their lives; that they have developed empathy, strength, tolerance and patience because of their sibling relationship. ...However, siblings of children with special needs do need special consideration. In Siblings Australia’s 2009 report, Supporting Siblings of Children with Special Needs, the authors refer to research indicating that siblings may experience “significant long-term physical and mental health problems such as anxiety, depression, low self-esteem and relationship difficulties if their needs are left unaddressed. Read full article